Methods of preparing ribbed insoles for welt shoes



June 11, 1957 K. A. STRITT EZR 2,794,996

METHODS OF PREPARING RIBBED INSOLES FOR WELT SHOES Filed Dec. 50, 1954 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 June 11, 1957 K. A. STRITTER 4, 6

METHODS OF PREPARING RIBBED INSOLES FOR WELT SHOES Filed Dec. 50 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 ffizrl A. Stritter Inventor I June 11, 1957 K. A. STRITTER 2,794,996

METHODS OF PREPARING RIBBED INsoLEs FOR WELT SHOES Filed Dec. 30, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Inventor Karl A. Szritter \Miw United METHODS OF PREPARING RIBBED INSOLES FOR WELT SHOES Application December 30, 1954, Serial No. 478,764

1 Claim. c1. 12-446) This invention relates to methods of making ribbed insoles for welt shoes.

The construction of the Goodyear welt shoe, while it is recognized as the best construction yet devised, is not, as usually made, remarkable for its flexibility, which is a highly desirable characteristic.

Objects of this invention are to provide a method of making a ribbed insole which may be satisfactorily employed and a shoe produced in which the resultant flexibility is largely dependent upon the flexibility of the outsole, that is, the more flexible the outsole, the more flexible the shoe. The present invention provides an insole the forepart of which is very soft, limber and flexible and a method of making-it, and the use of which in making a sole thereon avoids the manufacturing difficulties attendant upon the employment of such an insole, that is, the tendency for such a light insole to be displaced, pushed in or wrinkled up during the lasting operation or during other operations. Such wrinkling or distortion of the insole renders the so-called feather lineof the shoe nonuniform, 'a smooth, uniform :feather line being characteristic of a well-made shoe.

The insole may comprise, at the forepart at least, a piece of thin, soft, flexible material of the shape and size of part or all of the last bottom. This insole, which may cover only the forepart of the last bottom or may cover the entire last bottom, may be of any suitable thin, flexible material such as sock lining, upper leather or a flesh or grain split. A shank-and-heel piece of fiber or leather having its front end skived to a thin edge is attached to the rear end of the forepart insole or to the shank and heel part of the insole if the insole is full length. In the shank-and-heel portion of the insole, flexibility is not usually required and the shank-andheel piece affords substantial material to which the heel end portion and sides of the upper up to the ball line may be lasted in any usual manner.

An important feature of this invention is the provision at the forepart of a welt insole of a pocket in which a temporary stiffening element is located to hold the feather line of the insole during various operations upon the shoe.

A temporary stiflening plate is provided which is the shape of the forepart of the insole but is smaller than the insole by the width of a seam allowance. To avoid sticking of the plate to various cemented parts of the shoe, it is preferably made of plastic, for example polyethylene to which cement will not readily adhere, though other material such as fiberboard may be used.

A piece of thin sheet material such as fabric, canvas, boot cloth or Tufsta is cut to the size and shape of the forepart and becomes an insole member. Upon'the inner face of the piece of sheet material or pocket-piece is laid the temporary stiffening plate with its rear edge flush with the rear edge of the pocket-piece and with the curved edge of the plate a uniform distance from the curved edge of the pocket piece. These two parts are then turned over, stapled together and laid upon the 2,794,995 Patented June 11, 1957 ice forepart of the insole with the curved edge of the pocket piece flush with the curved edge of the insole. The insole and pocket piece are secured together by a light seam located between the edge of the temporary stifien-ing plate and the flush edges of the insole and pocket piece. Thus, a rearwardly open pocket is tormed on the insole which contains the temporary stifiening plate. The .su'ifening plate may be removed by pulling out the staples and withdrawing the plate rearwardly of the shoe. If desired the pocket may be formed before the plate is inserted.

With the forepart of the insole thus stiffened, it is practicable to cementaattach to the forepart of the insi'le or pocket piece and to the shankeand-heel piece one of the prefabricated ribbed strips which it is customary to apply to usual insoles to provide sewing ribs thereon. Since the insole is now provided with a firm edge the usual gages on the rib attaching machine may be employed to locate the insole by engagement with its edge to determine the distances from its edge at which the rib is attached to the insole, that is, to determine the varying width of the feather required at diiferent portions of the periphery of the insole. Of course, if the rib extends firom the breast line around the forepart to the breast line, the forepart pocket and the shank-andheel piece will'be cemented on their exposed marginal portions to receive and secure the cemented rib. lf desired the cementing and attachment of the ribbed strip may be extended round the heel seat portion of the shank and-heel piece.

The insole thus prepared is attached to the bottom of a last, the upper assembled on the last and pulled over in the usual manner of making welt shoes. At the sides of the shoe the usual staple lasting operation, by which the upper is tensioned and secured to the rib, is performed without difiiculty since the insole, by reason of the presence of the st-iifening plate in its pocket, is held in place and its edge is not disturbed by the Working of the upper over it. The toe portion of the shoe may be lasted by end-embracing wipers in a bed lasting machine or in an automatic toe-lasting machine. The heelseat may be lasted with tacks on a heel-seat lasting machine "and the sides by stapling the upper to the rib. A welt or other sole attaching strip is sewed to the rib of the insole by a usual welt sewing machine and the inseam trimmed. The temporary stiffening plate is withdrawn from its pocket by removing the staples, buckling the plate outwardly and pulling it rearwardly of the shoe. The shoe is welt beaten, bottom tilled, a sole laid and sewed to the welt, a heel attached and the shoe finished in the usual manner.

The ribbed strip may be applied to the pocket about the forep'art only of the insole, in which case the sides of the upper at the shank may be flat lasted over the shank-and-heel piece in any usual manner, as by cement or curved staples.

Instead of the usual welt, a double flexed Welt is preferably sewed to the upper and the rib of the insole by the usual welt sewing machine and the inseam trimmed. When the double flexed welt is used, there is no distortion of the filling cavity as often results due to stiffness of the welting when conventional welting is used and no welt beating is needed; hence there is no distortion of the shape of the filling cavity, as often results from welt beating. The cavity is filled with a precut sheet filler of cushion material such as cork composition, felt or sponge rubber. The margin of the filler is preferably pinked so that pieces of the same size may be used to fill cavities varying slightly in size and shape.

In the drawings- Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an insole or body layer;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a shank-and-heel piece;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a modifiedinsole or body layer of" a shape --to' cover only the forepart= of'alast bottom; t

Fig. 5 is a perspective view showingonly the. insole-of Fig} 4 attached to the shankaand heel piece ofFig: 2;

Fig. 6is=a-perspective-view of a-forepartshapedlpiece offabric toform a pocket on the insole;

Fig. 7lisa perspective view of a stiffening plate;

1 Fig. 8 isa perspective view of the stiffening plate of Fig. 7 laidupon the inner faceof. the pocket piece shown in Fig. 6; t

Fig. 9 is a perspective view showing the assembly of Fig-8 laid upon the forepart of the insolein Fig. 5 and secured thereto by a peripheral seam;

Fig; 10. is aperspective view ofa fabricated ribbed strip;

Fig. 11 is a. perspective view of the insole of Fig. 9 with the prefabricated' ribbed strip of Fig. attached thereto;

Fig. 12 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line X1I-XII of. Fig; 11;

Fig. 13 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line XII1X-III of Fig. 11;

Fig. l4-is -a fragmentary sectional view through the forepartof' a last with anupper and the insole of Fig. 11 assembled 'thereon, the upper beinglasted and stapled to the ribbed strip;

Fig. 15 is a view similar to Fig. 14 takenthrough the shank portion of the last;

Fig. 16 is a view similar to Fig. 14 showing a welt sewed to the upper and ribbed strip;

Fig. 17 is aview similar to Fig. 15 showing a Welt sewed to the ribbed strip;

Fig. 18 is a-view similarto Fig. l'4but showing the shoe after inseam trimming and after removal of the stiffening plate;

' Fig. 1 9 is a view similar to Fig. 18 showing the shoe after a filler has been applied and a sole sewed to the welt;

Figs. 20 and 21 are perspective views showing the opposite sides of a double flexed welt;

Fig. 22 is a perspective view of the died-out sheet filler; and

Fig. 23 is a view similar to Fig. 11 but with the ribbed strip omitted in the shank portion thereof.

Fig. 1 represents an insole or body layer 10 cut to fit the bottom of a selected last. The insole may be of any soft, thin, flexible material having at least one sur- 1 face of the shank-and-heel portion of. the insole 10, ce-

merit. being preferred to other :fastening means because it leaves the inner side of the insole intact (Fig. 3).

If desired, for the sake of economy, a thin flexible forepart piece 14 or body layer may be united to the skived .front end of a shank-and-heel piece 1.2, for example, by a seam 15 (Fig. 5). It is to be understood that either the insole shown in Fig. 3 or that shown in Fig. 5 may be used on which to perform the operations now to be described.

A pocket piece 16 of sheet material of the shape and size of the forepart of the insole is cut out and may be cemented: on its peripheral margin as indicated at 17 (Fig. 6). The sheet material used for the piece 16 may be fabric such as canvas, buckram, or boot cloth which is a square weave, unsized, cotton fabric. .150 the sheet material used for the pocketpiece may bean ,unwoven, non-fraying, cotton base reinforcing material such as that marketed under the trademark Tufsta.

A temporary stiffening. member or plate 18 (Fig. 7) is formed from a thin sheet of. fiber or plastic such as polyethylene 1 to correspond to the 1 shape of the forepart of the insole. The plate, however, is made smaller than the forepart of the insole by the width of a seam allowance, say inch. The plate 18 has a hand piece 20 projecting from its rear end and at each side of the hand piece is a straight edge 22. The straight edges 22 have notches 24 inthem, and corresponding notches. 26 are.-

made in the rear end ofthe pocket piece 16. The pocket piece 16 is turned inside out (Fig. 8) and the temporary stiffening member 18 laid upon it with the notches, 24 t in register with the notches 26. Asa further means for obtaining exact register of the parts 16 and 18, the plate 18 may have a notch 28 at the toe end which is made to register with a mark 30 on the pocket piece 16. When thus registered, a margin /8 inch wide'of the pocket piece projects beyond the plate 18, as indicated in Fig. 8. The parts 16, 18 are turned over and secured together by a couple of staples :32. This assembly, being now right.

The, above described method of'procedure is preferred in the interest of accuracy. However, it is quite possible to obtain good results by placing, the pocket piece 16' uponthe forepart of the insole with their outer edges flush, sewing the seam 34 at a uniform distance from the flush edges and then. inserting the. stiffening plate into the pocket 50' formed.

To the undersurface insole of Fig. 9, to which is secured the pocked piece 16, there is attached a prefabricated, ribbed strip 36 (Fig. 10), of known type, which may be that disclosed in an application for United States Letters Patent Serial No. 429,926, filed May 14, 1954, in the name of Alfred S. Clark. Cement 37 is applied to the margins of the shank piece 12' forward of the breast line and to the marginal portion of the pocket piece 16 if not already cemented. The ribbed strip 36 is applied, at least in the forepart of the insole, by a ribbed strip applying machine such as that disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 2,613,377, granted October 14, 1952, in the names of N. E. Mariner and L. G. Knowles. Since the shank portion is stillened by the heel-and-shank piece 12 and. the forepart by the plate 18, there is no difiiculty in attaching the ribbed strip to the insole on this machine. The firm edge of the insole rests against a gage which .is shifted to cause the ribbed strip to be applied to the insole at the usual varying distances from its edge; that is, the width of the feather is varied as is usual in good shoemaking. The insole noW appears as shown in Fig. 11, the forepart being as shown in section in Fig. 12, and the shank part appearing as shown in section in Fig. 13. The insole with the stitiening plate 18 still in the pocket is fastened to the bottom of a selected last L which is preferably a fiat-bottomed last, that is, one the forepart of which has little or no transverse curvature. A suitable upper 38 is assembled upon the. last, pulled over and lasted in a usual manner; for example, the heelseat may be fiat-lasted with tacks on a heel-seat lasting machine, the sides may be lasted on a staple lasting machine (Fig. 15) and the toe may be lasted on a bed lasting machine or on an automatic toe lasting machine (Fig. 14). A usual welt 40 or other sole-attaching strip may now be sewed to the upper and the rib of the insole (Figs. 16 and 17) by use of a usual welting machine and the inseam trimmed. The temporary stifiening plate 18 is now withdrawn by removing the staples 32 and pinching the hand piece 20 to cause the plate to buckle outwardly of the insole. To facilitate this buckling, several slits 42" (Fig. 7) may be made through the plate along its central portion. After removal of the plate 18, the forepart of the shoe appears in section as shown in Fig. 18.

The welt may now be beaten, a filler 44 applied and an outsole 46 laid and attached to the welt in the usual manner, as shown in Fig. 19.

Preferably, in place of the usual welt 40, a welt 48 such as that disclosed in my application for United States Letters Patent Serial No. 565,986, filed February 16, 1956, is employed. This welting has both its margins slashed and conforms readily to the curves of the shoe bottom so that there is no distortion of the filling cavity due to stiffness of the welt. One form of such welting is shown in Figs. 20 and 21 in which the slashing 50 on the outer margin extends only part way through and the slashing 52 on the inner margin of the welt extends all the way through. The welt beating operation tends to alter the shape of the filling cavity in the shoe but when the double slashed welting is used no welt beating is needed and the shape of the filling cavity is unchanged so that a cushion filler 54 (Fig. 22) precut from a sheet of cushion material may be used. Such a filler preferably has its edge pinked so that it can be made to fit cavities of slightly varying sizes and shapes by distortion of the points of the pinking. Before the shoe is filled, cement may be introduced under the pocket piece 16 to cause it to adhere to the insole, and the sheet filler 54 may be cemented to cause it to adhere to the pocket piece 16.

If a shoe having a welted forepart only is desired, the prefabricated ribbed strip will be applied to the forepart only of the insole, the insole then appearing as shown in Fig. 23. The shank portion of the upper may be flatlasted to the heel-and-shank piece 12.

Obviously, if the sole-attaching strip is in the form of a platform cover or wrapper, a platform shoe may be made by the subject methods. In this case or in any case where a sewed seat welt or platform shoe is desired, the ribbed strip 36 may be attached entirely around the insole, including the heel-seat.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

A method of preparing ribbed insoles for use in the manufacture of welt shoes, which comprises the steps of providing an insole blank having a thin flexible forepart, cementing to the portion of the insole rearward of the forepart a shank-and-heel piece, sewing to the periphery of the forepart of the insole a piece of fabric of a size and shape corresponding to the size and shape of the forepart of the insole to provide a .rearwardly open pocket adapted to remain a permanent element of a shoe in which the insole is to be used, inserting in said pocket a plate of relatively stiff material and of a shape corresponding to the shape of the pocket piece but somewhat smaller than the latter, said plate being adapted temporarily to reinforce the forepart of the insole during the lasting of an upper and the attachment of a welt, and cement attaching a ribbed strip to the margins of the shank-and-heel piece and of the exposed surface only of the pocket piece but not to the insole blank, thereby leaving said reinforcing plate free to be removed from said pocket after the lasting and welt attaching operations.

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